THE CAMPAIGN

First-World Techniques, Third-World Setting

The X-Men: The Story of Activists-Turned-Political Consultants

With a Little Help from (U.S.) Friends

Campaigning, Filipino Style

Spinning the News

Half-Truths in Advertising

Songs in the Key of Politics

PHOTO ESSAY

The Presidency as Image

ELECTION PERSPECTIVES

Elections are like Water

Between Tinsel and Trapo

The Enigma of the Popular Will

VOTER'S VOICE

First-time Voter

Regular Voter

Non-Voter

Hope and Elections in Payatas

THE LIGHTER SIDE

Making (Non)Sense of Politics

Election Lexicon

Quickie Quiz for the Politically Insane

FOR THIS year's elections, text messaging does seem to be the much sought-after application given the technology's effectiveness in the immediate delivery of information, not to mention the fanciness of the medium. That is not at all surprising since the 2001 midterm elections saw massive information being passed on for the first time as part of campaigns.

	The effectiveness of mobile phones as a tool of political mobilization was first demonstrated in Edsa 2.

Yet in the absence of any guidelines from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) so far, politicians and political parties as well as mobile-phone operators have been treading the high-tech road more cautiously. Besides, what many candidates want is a broadcast platform capable of sending messages to millions of cell-phone users in an instant. As one seasoned strategist puts it, "A creative pitch for a candidate can start with a person sending it to 10 people. Assuming a low pass-on rate of three to five more people down the line, you can already reach a minimum of 90 people at the third level. Imagine if you are equipped to send out SMS to a million (phone) numbers in an hour?"

This SMS-based campaign strategy will, however, require clearance from the poll body owing to concerns about its nature as election propaganda under the Fair Elections Act. Carriers Globe Telecom and Smart Communications have also expressed apprehension about being seen as engaging in patently partisan activities. At the same time, privacy issues and the potential congestion of the networks will have to abide by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) guidelines.

But at least one wireless application developer is offering a way out of this fix. According to Mobile Arts, its standalone computer-based application, Politxt, will suit the needs of political campaign organizations. "It's just like buying a cell phone, so you don't need to formally interconnect with the operators," says Mobile Arts president and CEO Ramon Duremdes Jr. "You just need to have this software loaded into your PC with a phone or cable connection."

To harness the power of SMS, Politxt requires the use of a GSM modem (Nokia 30), which comes with a prepaid SIM (subscriber identity module) card that provides the organization with its own mobile phone number. The program's basic functionality consists of broadcast text messaging, two-way interaction with the public, and group texting.

These functions can also be used to manage the internal operations of the organization. Group text, for instance, can be used to securely file reports from the field regarding the status of campaign activities and updates during election day and until the counting and canvassing of votes. Messages are displayed on the computer screen in a spreadsheet format that allows ease of responding and organizing the field reports.

With the latest phone models equipped with cameras and video recorders now in vogue, reporting can also be spiced up by multimedia messaging service (MMS) content in pictures, video, and audio clips. (Of course like any technology, SMS and MMS can be used to further sinister ends, too. One campaign operator says some groups are already planning to use text messaging in facilitating the monitoring of early election results at precinct level so they quickly conduct dagdag-bawas operations in the areas where their candidates are weak.)

Since launching Politxt in February, Duremdes says his company has received a lot of inquiries from interested campaign operators. But he expects a market for the software more from candidates running for local posts. "In many local contests, this could spell an important difference especially in areas with a relatively urban constituency," he says. "Knowing how to use the software for certain segments of the voting population, like the youth, could have very potent results."

Should the Comelec give its nod to current proposals to use SMS in the campaigns, another company, Chikka, is also offering via the operators a text newsletter platform similar to the one being used by alumni organizations. The platform allows the candidate or his/her administrator to send a regular SMS newsletter to subscribers following an opt-in arrangement. This means that subscribers first agree to have their phone numbers registered to the service to protect consumers from getting all sorts of campaign content without their permission.

A similar opt-in subscription service called Tambuli Txt is also being introduced by the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) — with Chikka's technical support — initially to party-list organizations for the present campaign, and then eventually to civil-society organizations. FMA president Alan Alegre says that as an automated community text service, Tambuli Txt is envisioned to "harness the potential of cell phones as a tool for development, and SMS as a cheap and effective communications strategy for citizens and communities."

Application providers, however, warn against the perils of broadcast messaging. "It's always risky," insists Duremdes. "And I don't believe that a presidential campaign should indiscriminately send out millions of messages as this just might backfire. It's not a software issue. It's more of PR (public relations). You can misuse it by sending messages to people who hate receiving such messages."